Anti-skid water ski



Dec. 29, 1959 Filed June 18, 1957 Fig. I

R. L- SACKETT ANTI-SKID WATER'SKI 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 as Fig. 3

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ROBERT L. SACKETT BY R. L SACKETT ANTI-SKID WATERSKI Dec. 29, 1959 2 SheetsSheet 2 Filed June 18, 1957 T51 F g .INVENTOR. ROBERT L. SAGKETT II? i E a. r F

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ted States Patent ANTI-SKID WATER SKI Robert L. Sackett, San Diego, Calif.

Application June 18, 1957, Serial No. 666,303

'5 Claims. (Cl. 9-310) This invention relates generally to sports equipment and more particularly to an anti-skid water ski.

A primary object of the invention is to provide a water ski which by virtue of its unique construction is adapted to minimize the tendency for water skis to plane laterally out of the water, special features being incorporated in the ski to cause the rear'section to remain submerged and effective in preventing falls.

Another object of the invention is to provide a water ski which is lively, that is, adapted to aid the skier in making jumps and like maneuvers, this feature being accomplished in part by making the forward and rear sections somewhat'springy with the midsection arched upwardly, when the skiers weight is not impressed thereon, and in part by providing a special forward end or planing tip which has a minimized tendency to cut through a wake.

Another object of this invention, ancillary to the preceding objects, is to provide a water ski of a unique crosssectional shape incorporating .relatively sharp lateral edges extending throughout the length of the ski and graduating from the bottom of the ski at the rear extremity to the top of the ski near its front end. This construction provides a profile resulting in the rear section of the ski tending to bite into or be deflected downwardly into the water whenever the ski tends to be moved transversely in what would ordinarily cause in other skis the initiation of a skid and fall. The provision of a sharp edge near the upper level of the forward section inherently results in the creation of inclined lateral surfaces which will be referred to herein as deflector means causing lateral deflection of a major portion of the spray which would ordinarily strike the skier.

Yet another object of this invention, possibly of paramount importance, is to provide a ski having a tapered rear section equipped with a skeg and having an area approximating the area of the forward section less the immediately above mentioned inclined lateral surfaces or deflector means, so that a proper balance of the ski is maintained with the rear section biased constantly downwardly into the water, it being noteworthy in this connection that a still further improvement in the action of this ski is attained by a slight transverse upward concavity in a major portion of the tail section.

With these objects definitely in view, along with other objects which will appear hereinafter as this description proceeds, this invention resides in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of elements and portions as will hereinafter be described in the specification, found in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an edge elevational view of a ski incorporating this invention and vertically disposed;

Figures 2-8 are cross-sectional views taken on the corresponding section lines indicated in Figure 1;

Figure 9 is a plan view of the ski;

Figure 10 is a bottom plan view;

Figure 11 is a fragmentary edge elevational view of the midsection of the ski, on a considerably enlarged scale;

Figure 12 is a similar view of the skeg and the adjacent portion of the tail section.

Similar characters of reference indicate similar or identical elements or portions throughout. the specifica tion and throughout the different view in the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, this improved water ski comprises an elongated body member which will be considered herein as constituted of a tail section 10, midsection 12, forward section .14 and a planing tip which is relatively sharply angulated with respect to the said forward section. The planing tip 16 has a substantially flat under-surface 18 and the forward section has a similarly generally flat under-surface 20, and it should be noted that the transverse dimension of these flat undersurfaces 18 and 20 is approximately equal to the average width of the tail section. This relative proportioning of the flat under-surfaces of the forward section and the tail section is reflected in a tendency for the tail section to be constantly submerged, especially in view of the action of the upwardly and outwardly inclined or beveled portions 22 and 24 of the planing tip and forward section respectively. This last mentioned feature will be referred to hereinafter but it should be now noted that the inclined or beveled portion 24, particularly, causes the total transverse width at the front of the ski to be considerably greater than the average transverse widthin the tail section and this aids in maintaining the proper angle of attack of the ski in use.

Another feature of this ski, effective in preventing side slip or skidding, is the substantially rectilinear sharp lateral edge 26 which extends throughout the major length of the ski, graduating from the top of the ski at the front end of the forward section 14 to the bottom of the ski in said tail section. More specifically, said sharp edge 26 reaches the bottom of the ski adjacent the juncture of the midsection 12 and the tail section 10, and continues at the bottom of the ski to its rear extremity because of the concavity on the underside of the tail section. The forward section 14 has a substantially flat upper-surface 28 and the rear extremity of the tail section has a flat under-surface 30, this configuration being coincidental in the attainment of the said sharp lateral edge in substantially rectilinear form, the slight upward arching of the ski at its midsection being disregarded in this connection.

Two structural features, tending to retain the tail section submerged, have already been enumerated, namely, the tapered tail section and the differential in area between the tail section and the forward section, and the sharp lateral edge features. A third feature, tending to insure submergence of the tail section, is the slight concavity of the under-surface 32 of the major portion of the tail section with the coincident convex upper-surface 34 thereof, which tends to make the tail section bite into or be deflected downwardly into the water whenever the ski is moved transversely, with the result that a side slip or skid never develops to the suflicient degree to cause a spill or fall. In this connection, it should also be noted that the midsection also has a slightly concave undersurface 36 and a convex upper-surface 38. Since the midsection is usually also at least partly submerged in use, the same principle applies to the cross-sectional configuration. Although not completely novel, it should also be noted that the skeg 40 aids in preventing side slip and this skeg is of somewhat novel construction in that the forward working edge is rectilinear with a view to minimizing the resistance to the penetration of the skeg as deeply as possible into the water.

Returning now to a further discussion of the upwardly and outwardly inclined portions 22 and 24, it should be noted that these portions constitute deflector means since they deflect the spray originating at the planing tip and forward section much more effectively than the conventional vertical edges of the prior art skis. Reference to Figures 2, 3 and 4 will make this feature abundantly clear. The spray is simply deflected laterally, away from the skier, by the upper segments of the deflectors means 22-24. The dual terminology for these elements 22-24 should be noted and this dual terminology is employed to emphasize the dual function of these elements 22-24.

The midsection is laminated, as indicated at 42, for extra vertical thickness and strength. The laminated portion is fared off smoothly and need not extend to the lateral edges of the ski. The preferred configuration of this laminated portion is fully shown in Figures 1, 5, 6 and 9.

Since this ski has such excellent anti-skid characteristics, it is adapted for single ski skiing and this is represented by a front foot toe protector 44, a heel receiver 46, and a rear foot saddle 48, all secured by metal cleats 50. Anti-slippage strips may be accomplished by imprega nating the varnish of the ski, before the same dries, with suitable grit such as aluminum grinding. The preferred pattern of these anti-slippage strips is that shown in Figure 9, a central longer strip extending longitudinally underneath the rear foot saddle 48, with lateral strips converging toward the rear.

The method of use or operation of the ski has already been referred to in the foregoing description of the mechanical details thereof and further description would appear unnecessary. It will be obvious that all the aboveenumerated objects of the invention are fully attained by this invention. While I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention it is to be understood that minor variations from the form specified and illustrated in the drawings can be made without departure from the spirit and scope of this invention, and that the speci-' fication and drawings should be illustrative rather than limiting.

I claim:

1. An anti-skid water ski comprising; an elongated body member having a forward section, a midsection and 4 a tail section; all said sections tapering transversely to define continuous, longitudinally extending, sharp lateral edges on each side of the ski, said sharp edges being in the upper part of the forward section, in the lower part of said midsection and at the bottom of said tail section.

2. An anti-skid water ski comprising; an elongated body member having a forward section, a midsection and a tail section; all said sections tapering transversely to define longitudinally extending sharp lateral edges; said sharp lateral edges graduating from the bottom of said tail section at the rear extremity thereof to the top of said forward section adjacent the forward portion thereof.

3. An anti-skid water ski according to claim 2 and wherein said lateral edges are approximately rectilinear.

4. A water ski comprising an elongated body member having a tail section and a forward section including a planing tip; said forward section including said planing tip having transversely outwardly and upwardly extending lateral edge portions, and said lateral edge portions constituting deflector means to deflect spray laterally of the skier; the average transverse dimension of said tail section approximating the width dimension of the for- Ward section without said deflector means, and said lateral edge portions augmenting the planing surface of the forward section so that it is greater than that of said tail section when said lateral edge portions are in operative position in the water.

5. A water ski according to claim 4 wherein said planing tip has transversely outwardly and upwardly extending lateral edge portions constituting deflector means to deflect spray'laterally of the skier.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,143,545 

